Shaquille O’Neal practiced with Boston's first unit for the second straight day. Doc Rivers said the plan was to start Jermaine O’Neal at center, but nothing was set in stone.

“I think just watching what [Shaq’s] doing, he doesn’t care [whether he starts],’’ Rivers said. “He just wants to play and help the team. He really wants to prove that he can play still, No. 1. And I think he just wants to win, and you can see that.’’

The Boston Celtics point guard is wisely following the mantra of Oliver Stone’s fictional Wall Street character, greedily stating he wants to be the premier table-setter in the NBA.

Not top five. Not top three. But number one. Like Gecko preached: ‘Greed is good’.

Rondo must continue to emerge because the Celtics are his team. Ray Allen, at 36, is a spot up shooter; Kevin Garnett has health issues; Paul Pierce is on the downside of his storied run with the mighty green-and-white.

Raising an eighteenth banner and avenging last year’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals rests mostly with Rondo. After years as a supporting piece, he’s now the straw that stirs the drink, the lead dog on a veteran squad

So the Celtics will go only as far as the ‘greedy’ Rondo takes them in 2011.
--Oly Sandor.

"It was great to practice every day against the best young talent in the league, a veteran like Chauncey Billups and play for a Hall of Fame coach [Mike Krzyzewski]," Rondo said. "But some of these guys hadn't played since April. Lamar [Odom] and I had just got out of Game 7. And next season is right around the corner. I feel like I had to take advantage of the opportunity I have right now to win another championship. It's not often you get to play with four Hall of Famers. Another couple of years and I won't have that."

Rondo hadn’t recovered from the Boston Celtics’ crushing seven-game loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. He was drained and needed rest.

The emerging table-setter understands the championship window is closing on the green-and-white. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce – also known as The Big Three - are hitting the end of their careers.

Rondo knows he needs to be at full strength in 2011 and 2012 because opportunities to win championships are rare. Playing in the World Championship would be tiring.

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have signed free agent guard Delonte West. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

West, a 6’3” guard, has posted career averages of 10.0 points, 3.7 assists and has shot 37.3% from beyond the arc. Originally drafted by the Celtics with the 24th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, West posted a career-high 12.2 points during his last season with the Celtics in 2006-07.

Those that love Delonte West and the Boston Celtics must be doing cartwheels, summersaults, and back flips after learning these two reached agreement on a new contract.

The troubled guard started his career with the Celtics, so this is familiar territory. His coach is the personable and friendly Glen ‘Doc’ Rivers. Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins are old teammates. He’s lived in Boston before, which isn’t far from his home of Maryland.

So West knows the organization. And vice-versa.

Rivers and GM Danny Ainge will support West through his personal issues, and accept that the guard will miss the first ten games of the season due to an NBA imposed suspension for a firearms infraction last summer.

Also, the Celtics are a veteran-laden club with big personalities. There’s The Big Three: Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. Rondo is now an elite point guard. Shaquille and Jermaine O’Neal have presence. Of course, there’s Glen Davis and Nate Robinson, also known as Shrek and Donkey.

This boisterous group can shield him from the media and spotlight. West only has regain the form he showed with the Celtics before getting traded in a package to the Seattle Super Sonics for Ray Allen.

The combo guard will provide scoring, intensity, and toughness off the bench. All it cost Boston was the league minimum for a sixth year player and a little faith.

The Celtics have a roster spot open and are currently looking for a shooter, meaning Rudy Fernandez could be an option.

“We’re just continuing to explore available players and trade possibilities and see what sort of options are there,’’ said Danny Ainge. “There are some trade discussions that we’re having. I don’t know the likelihood of those happening, but we’ll continue to not rush into something unless it’s something that we’re really excited about.’’

In reality, it’s a no. Fernandez has whined, complained, and moaned about being a reserve for the Portland Trail Blazers. The Spaniard wants to start, or he'll break his NBA contract and return to Europe.

HoopsVibe's Very QUick Call: Eddie House, sharpshooter for hire, is in a unique position.

Three years ago, around this time, House signed a one-year deal with the Boston Celtics. His role was simple: hit jump-shots and punish opposing defenses for double-teaming superstars Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce.

Of course, the charismatic journeyman also witnessed the hoopla surrounding the green-and-white’s Big Three. Expectations were high; night-in, night-out, opponents got up for the Celtics.

House is right: the Miami Heat will face even greater pressure in 2010-11 than the Celtics of 2007-08. After all, South Beach pulled off the all-time free agent coup, re-signing superstar Dwyane Wade, while adding Chris Bosh and LeBron James.

Wade and James are two of the NBA’s top four players. Bosh is a perennial All-Star and legit’ 20-10 guy down low.

However, it’s not what they did, but how they did it. Resentment lingers at Miami’s Three Kings for how they handled free agency, especially James for turning ‘The Decision’ into a spectacle.

Now the Heat is public enemy number one. They’re controversial rock stars. Their every move will be chronicled. And many are hoping they fail.

So House’s steroid analogy works. This year should be awfully interesting.

--Oly Sandor.Got a call on this? Get at HoopsVibe News in the comment box below.

"I pushed," he said. "You looked around and you looked at the free agents. I saw Shaq was the best available at the time." Pierce doesn't buy into the notion that the O'Neal signing is simply adding another over-the-hill player to an already aging roster.

"When you put him in our group of guys, he's going to have a different role now," Pierce said. "The role he had in Cleveland, he had to be the second guy or the third guy at times. With us, it's not going to have to be that way. We have a number of guys we can play through. There's not a lot of pressure for Shaq to go out and get the 15 or 20 (points) a night like he had to in Cleveland for them to be successful.

The 2010-2011 Boston Celtics features the stars from the 1990s such as Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Jermaine O’Neal, and the eventual return of Rasheed Wallace. Either they moved one step closer to a title or hospital bed, the Green Machine remains the team to beat in the East despite Miami’s Super Friends. The Celtics are still the Eastern Conference Champions and until any other team officially knock them out; they remain the favorites to return to the Finals.

Matt Barnes announced on Monday night that he is going to sign with the Raptors. However, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports that Orlando's limited sign-and-trade options may scuttle the deal, according to sources.